Resort opportunities for folks in the medical field?

[Huskier]

I've been toying with this idea for a while, combining work and pleasure. I'm not sure there's anybody on here that can answer this, but what sort of opportunities are there at resorts (big or small) for someone with advanced medical training (M.D; R.N/ARNP, etc)? What about for someone in the midst of training?

[moose pit]

Can you ski? Not that it matters try Volly patrol.

[Huskier]

I thought patrol guys & gals were more EMT/rescue folks? And yes.

[Fenris]

On mountain clinics. Take a few x-rays, hand out lollypops.

[powder_prophet]

Yes, patrollers are EMT/OEC level. They're just there to keep people alive until they get to better care at a clinic/hospital. So that is your best bet, find a good on-mountain clinic. They usually staff mostly nurses with one or two MD's. At our clinic, the MD's also work in other parts of the system in town(hospitals, ortho clinics, etc.) then come up to the clinic a couple days a week. We ususally have one on site, and at least one more doc that is on the hill skiing around with a radio, and if the shit if hitting the fan, they will ski down to the clinic and help out. Not a bad gig for a doc...

Hope this helps

[Huskier]

Absolutely! Do you happen to know what backgrounds they generally have? (Internal medicine, Sports Med, Emergency, etc?) Are they generally paid or are these volunteer gigs?

Yes, patrollers are EMT/OEC level. They're just there to keep people alive until they get to better care at a clinic/hospital. So that is your best bet, find a good on-mountain clinic. They usually staff mostly nurses with one or two MD's. At our clinic, the MD's also work in other parts of the system in town(hospitals, ortho clinics, etc.) then come up to the clinic a couple days a week. We ususally have one on site, and at least one more doc that is on the hill skiing around with a radio, and if the shit if hitting the fan, they will ski down to the clinic and help out. Not a bad gig for a doc...

Hope this helps

[keipow]

you can find work near ski resorts with bigger population.

hospitals in reno, south lake tahoe, truckee.
bellingham

many of these places are considered Health Professional Shortage Areas, and the doctors get paid extra in addition to having their student loans comped.

internists, emergency, orthopedics/sports med, family medicine, neurology, cardiovascular

pediatrics and ob/gyns have less business in mountain towns.

[skinnyskier]

you can find work near ski resorts with bigger population.

hospitals in reno, south lake tahoe, truckee.
bellingham

many of these places are considered Health Professional Shortage Areas, and the doctors get paid extra in addition to having their student loans comped.

internists, emergency, orthopedics/sports med, family medicine, neurology, cardiovascular

pediatrics and ob/gyns have less business in mountain towns.

I work as a physician in one of those areas, and I'm not getting paid extra. So far as I know, most mountain town doctors are paid somewhat less than their colleagues in an urban area. Thats partly because our rural areas have smaller populations than the big city. The hospital will pay off your loans, but that is considered income and is taxable.

We have seen a change in our demographics with the recession. We have fewer births for example, since young families are hit hard by the higher cost of living in our mountain town. On the other hand, we have plenty of older folks, especially summer seasonal residents, so we are providing more cardiology and oncology.

In the last twelve months, our local community has hired an internist, a cardiologist (me), a general surgeon (the mrs), a rehab doc, and an orthopod. We are recruiting for a GI, a pediatrician, and a urologist. There may be other opportunities for the right doc. Our local place is a top 100 rural hospital and has won several big quality awards.

[OverTurn]

Absolutely! Do you happen to know what backgrounds they generally have? (Internal medicine, Sports Med, Emergency, etc?) Are they generally paid or are these volunteer gigs?

Big Sky has an ortho clinic in the same building as our FAR that sees a ton of patients, as you would imagine. We also have a list of doctors/people with advanced training who are on the hill and carry a radio when they're skiing, but aren't really on patrol and aren't paid. They're just there to help and provide their extra level of care if needed. We also have a couple of "Med Pros" on the pro patrol who are Paramedics and handle/give out the drugs and advanced airways if needed. So a couple options there.

[skinnyskier]

The local primary care group staffs the Squaw and Northstar clinics. They are mostly family docs, and they hire once every five to ten years. They are attached to those seasonal clinics because it's fun for them, the clientele is well insured, and they can get a few runs in before work. It strikes me that an internist with a sports fellowship would be very hireable in a mountain town, perhaps more so than a family doc.

[Huskier]

I work as a physician in one of those areas, and I'm not getting paid extra. So far as I know, most mountain town doctors are paid somewhat less than their colleagues in an urban area. Thats partly because our rural areas have smaller populations than the big city. The hospital will pay off your loans, but that is considered income and is taxable.

We have seen a change in our demographics with the recession. We have fewer births for example, since young families are hit hard by the higher cost of living in our mountain town. On the other hand, we have plenty of older folks, especially summer seasonal residents, so we are providing more cardiology and oncology.

In the last twelve months, our local community has hired an internist, a cardiologist (me), a general surgeon (the mrs), a rehab doc, and an orthopod. We are recruiting for a GI, a pediatrician, and a urologist. There may be other opportunities for the right doc. Our local place is a top 100 rural hospital and has won several big quality awards.

Yeah, that was the impression I was under, that income in PP is dependent on population density.That's interesting you're seeing that type of a demographic shift, wouldn't have considered that. When you say your group is recruiting, what do you mean? Do you actively advertise the positions? If so, where?

Was the loan repayment part of your contract as a sort of perk or was it factored into your compensation package?

[skinnyskier]

I'm officially a sole proprietor, practicing in a hospital outpatient department (1206d clinic). California forbids hospitals to directly employ physicians. The hospital typically uses a recruitment firm, and the jobs are posted to physemp.com. However, I think the hospital would consider any really well trained physician who presented themselves, unless that specialty was already "full."

Loan repayment goes in the employment agreement, but call pay is a separate agreement.

[PowderSpectral]

I didnt read any of the others but I just tore my ACL and went to a clinic at the Mountain here in Jackson. They had a doctor and a few nurses. It was an extension of the hospital from town. Pretty basic gig. They had an X-ray but no MRI. But that would be a tits job. i was thinking about it when I was in there.

[Gman]

question for the medical folks, are hospitals only paying student loan debt for top talent? How important is the location of the hospital in regards to their ability to pay for such a thing? The reason I ask is the gf is about to do her 4th year of med school and has heavy med school debt. She wants to go into family practice so will never make top dollars but will have decent job security. Having a hospital pay off some of that debt would be nice as well. She has told me about programs with NIH that forgive a year of debt for every year you practice in a rural area, but I'm not sure either of us wants to end up in the middle of nowhere with nothing going on in the form of culture/things to do.

[here2day]

Looks like Mammoth Hospital needs a surgeon.

http://www.sierrawave.net/9662/dr-bourne-terminated/

[Huskier]

question for the medical folks, are hospitals only paying student loan debt for top talent? How important is the location of the hospital in regards to their ability to pay for such a thing? The reason I ask is the gf is about to do her 4th year of med school and has heavy med school debt. She wants to go into family practice so will never make top dollars but will have decent job security. Having a hospital pay off some of that debt would be nice as well. She has told me about programs with NIH that forgive a year of debt for every year you practice in a rural area, but I'm not sure either of us wants to end up in the middle of nowhere with nothing going on in the form of culture/things to do.

Right, there are a couple of programs, some state and some federal. The payback is around $20k/yr on top her salary, but lots come with contracts (i.e you have to stay 5 yrs). It's actually surprising in that lots of the "underserved" areas aren't where you'd think. I'm in Wa, and one of them is around Bellingham (Town closest to Baker), one's a little bit Southeast of Seattle (Crystal, Alpy, Steven's) in a not-so-great neighborhood. So I guess it depends on your definition of "middle of nowhere", and keep in mind that it probably won't be her permanent gig.

[Gman]

I realize it won't be her permanent gig but debating to what extent i want to commit 5years of my life living somewhere that might be undesirable. Do you think the loan payouts are worth the time? Not having debt is nice but at what expense I suppose. Trying to get a sense of where my options are and what factors to consider.

[Huskier]

I realize it won't be her permanent gig but debating to what extent i want to commit 5years of my life living somewhere that might be undesirable. Do you think the loan payouts are worth the time? Not having debt is nice but at what expense I suppose. Trying to get a sense of where my options are and what factors to consider.

Well, to start off, they're not your options, they're hers. At the expense of giving unwanted advice, girl's career & obligations v. payoff are pretty crappy things to take into account when deciding whether or not to stick around. Really, really crappy actually.

That being said.

Eh, it depends. On their own just for the extra scratch? No. I mean really, she's already sacrificed so much to get where she is, and residency will be hard enough. I think that making another sacrifice at the end of it all for the sole purpose of clearing the books is a recipe for misery. She'll already be making a very comfortable living. Most of the positions she'd be looking at with these programs are state or federally funded, so they often don't pay as much as private or large group setups (Think Kaiser vs. Indian Health Services). Also keep in mind that debt-forgiveness counts as taxable income, so she loses a bit before she even starts. Bottom line, it depends on what she wants out her career. Working with underserved populations can be very, very rewarding in and of itself. Living in the 'middle of nowhere' when you want to be going to the ballet and a five star restaurant every Friday night...probably not so rewarding.

Another thing to consider: If she's doing something that requires a longer training period (neurosurgery for example is 7 yrs post-med school training), there's an option in her loan repayment that allows for total forgiveness after 10 years in a 'qualifying' service institution. Most public teaching hospitals (i.e where she'd be doing residency, fellowship) count. So after those 7 years of training, she could just stay on another 3 years, in whatever major city she's in, and her slate would be wiped clean. It's called IBR.

Basically:
Primary care + wanting to work in the place to begin with--> Service-based repayment programs make the most sense
High-end sub-specialties --> IBR w/ forgiveness

Or, just bite the bullet when she gets out and throw money at her loans until they go away. I personally think that's the best strategy if you can manage it. Again, it all depends on what "heavy med school debt" is.

[MTT]

I work as a physician in one of those areas, and I'm not getting paid extra. So far as I know, most mountain town doctors are paid somewhat less than their colleagues in an urban area. Thats partly because our rural areas have smaller populations than the big city. The hospital will pay off your loans, but that is considered income and is taxable.

We have seen a change in our demographics with the recession. We have fewer births for example, since young families are hit hard by the higher cost of living in our mountain town. On the other hand, we have plenty of older folks, especially summer seasonal residents, so we are providing more cardiology and oncology.

In the last twelve months, our local community has hired an internist, a cardiologist (me), a general surgeon (the mrs), a rehab doc, and an orthopod. We are recruiting for a GI, a pediatrician, and a urologist. There may be other opportunities for the right doc. Our local place is a top 100 rural hospital and has won several big quality awards.

You must be in Truckee correct?

I need to select a doc for my new insurance plan. I live in Verdi, only options are a Doc with Renown or a Doc with Truckee.

Really thinking about going the Truckee route.
Bad idea?

[skinnyskier]

Primary care docs are generally good up here. My group of cardiologists, an internist, and a pulmonologist is a little more focused on complex chronic disease, and the other group of mostly family docs probably does a better job with sports injuries. All are board certified, active on the medical staff, decent human beings, etc. As a whole, the Truckee docs are comparable in skill to my former colleagues in downtown Seattle.